Author Archives: Ben Hsu
REMINDER: Nissan Jam is coming
Registration for the fourth annual Nissan Jam is open. The annual Datsun, Nissan, and Infiniti car show will be held on June 12 in a new venue this year, La Palma Park in Anaheim, California. Registration is $35 for any Datsun, Nissan, … Continue reading
QotW: What’s the baddest Nissan-Mitsubishi combo?
Almost exactly one year ago when news of the Toyota-Mazda partnership broke, it seemed like two companies, each excelling at their own particular skill sets, would only make each other better. Our QotW asked what the ultimate Toyota-Mazda combo would be. Somehow, though, Nissan’s … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2016 All-Toyotafest, Part 02 — Straight Sixes
As engines go, the Toyota straight-six is one of the best conceived by humankind. Smooth as Suntory whiskey, as long-lived as a mountain, and capable of stupid amounts of horsepower in later iterations, they are a triumph of automotive engineering. It’s no wonder the … Continue reading
VIDEO: Battle of the 80s track weapons
Long before it was Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the circuit was sponsored by Nissan and had the 200-horsepower 1984 300ZX Turbo as its official pace car. In a video from the period, the most 80s vehicular battle you can imagine pits … Continue reading
VIDEO: A 240Z built for a 10,000-mile off-road race
You thought Touge California was tough? It was only eight hours, 200 miles, and took place on pavement. This Datsun 240Z was built to tackle a rally that starts in Beijing, China, goes 10,000 miles through the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Russia … Continue reading
NEWS: Toyota builds an 86 shooting brake
The shooting brake has long been the holy grail of a certain type of car guy. Half sports car, half station wagon, it’s a body style long extinct from the automotive kingdom but not from the hearts of enthusiasts. Google … Continue reading
An interview with NeoClassic Japan’s editor-in-chief
Japan’s Kousoku Yuen magazine recently celebrated their 50th volume. Written for fans of all the lesser loved, non-Skyline, non-2000GT specimens of the Japanese automotive kingdom, it is perhaps the most otaku title of the JDM magazine world. To mark this momentous occasion, as well … Continue reading
Posted in japan, media
Tagged cedric, cressida, crown, gloria, kousoku yuen, mark II, NeoClassic Magazine, nissan, toyota
13 Comments
60 YEAR CLUB: Happy birthday to Akio Toyoda
Today is the 60th birthday of Toyota Motor Corp’s head honcho Akio Toyoda. Even at six decades old, the great-grandson of Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda shows no signs of slowing down. Over the weekend, he was seen donning a racing suit and getting … Continue reading
REMINDER: Toyotafest 2016 is this Saturday
Just a friendly reminder. The 21st annual Toyotafest is this Saturday, May 7. The celebration of Toyota, Lexus and Scion cars returns to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Gates open at 9 am and close at 3 pm, and admission is … Continue reading
Registration for the 2016 Nissan Jam is open
Registration for the fourth annual Nissan Jam is open. The annual Datsun, Nissan, and Infiniti car show will be held on June 12. The event moves to a new venue this year, La Palma Park in Anaheim, California. Thanks to the … Continue reading
MARKETWATCH: The rise of Japanese collector cars is duly noted
We realize that here at JNC we sometimes get a bit too otaku for the casual Japanese car enthusiast, with liberal use of chassis codes, Japanese nicknames, and, well, words like otaku. For those of you just joining us, Hagerty Insurance, which … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: Watch the fire-breathing Skyline Super Silhouette decimate Group 5
The Group 5 Skyline Turbo is one of the most legendary race cars in Japanese motorsport history. By now you know that its extreme Super Silhouette aero inspired a whole genre of tuning, but why was it so epic?
Posted in motorsport
Tagged dr30, fuji speedway, group 5, KDR30, masahiro hasemi, nissan, r30, skyline, super silhouette, Tsukuba Circuit
4 Comments
QotW: What’s the rarest JNC?
We all know there were 351 Toyota 2000GTs made, but that does not make them rare. To see one, just walk into any car museum in Japan. There’s plenty of well preserved ones at US car shows too. How about a modernized … Continue reading
EARTH DAY: Nissan built a hybrid-electric pickup back in 1973
Long before the Leaf — back in 1973 to be precise — Nissan had already been messing around with electric cars for decades. However, while the prevailing idea of an electric car was an office chair-sized bubble on wheels, Nissan built a space-tastic … Continue reading
Prince’s Purple Rain Honda motorcycle was awesome
The artist known as Prince passed away today at the age of 57. His musical achievements are well documented, but if you were a young motorhead in 1984 when Purple Rain came out, his custom Honda was the coolest bike around.
Behold the bonkers trippiness of these Yellow Hat commercials
Yellow Hat is a nationwide Japanese chain of auto service stores whose ad agency has clearly huffed one exhaust molecule too many. The completely Mr Sparkle-ized ads exist ostensibly to notify you of Yellow Hat’s tire and battery services, but the execution … Continue reading
NEWS: Mitsubishi admits to falsifying fuel economy data
Mitsubishi Motors admitted publicly this morning that its employees falsified fuel economy test data for over 600,000 vehicles. Production of these vehicles has halted and an independent investigation will be conducted.
VIDEO: Jay Kho’s Wild Card DR30 Skyline
A DR30 Skyline in signature red and black colors should be either a.) fighting crime on the mean streets of urban Japan or b.) in Hasemi livery tearing down the Fuji straight. So what’s it doing gliding down The Strip with the lights … Continue reading
